An Open Doorway Stephen Strange x Oc (COMPLETED)
by MundieORiley On Temp. Hiatus
Summary: Stephen Strange came to Kamar-Taj to repair his hands and return to his old life as a world renowned surgeon. Hayden Jones came to Kamar-Taj to escape her past and the abuse she faced for simply being as she was; a mutant. When these two individuals meet an unlikely friendship is formed and feelings deepen. When Kaecilius threatens everything, they must unite to save the world.
1. One: Learn to Let Go

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! So, this is my first shot at a Doctor Strange story and the first thing I've published in years. I'm probably a bit rusty, so please bear with any grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Also, this story is completely prewritten, so I'll be uploading without fail every Wednesday and Sunday!

Enjoy!

-Mundie

Stephen remembers the first time he saw Hayden with crystalline clarity, despite the months that have already passed. As he lays in his bed in his small room at Kamar Taj after a long day of study and practice, he closes his eyes and allows the memory to wash over him.

 _Stephen glances left and right at his fellow pupils, the sling ring cold and uncooperative on his tremulous and equally uncooperative fingers. He copies Mordo's instructions to perfection, brings up an image of the operating room at his previous place of employment in his mind's eye, yet, despite making the exact circular motion with his right hand like everyone else, he's getting nothing more than some pathetic sparks. Strange heaves a quiet sigh and lets his useless hands drop to his sides as Mordo calls the lesson to an end. Everyone present for the lesson begins to disperse and that's when Stephen sees her walking toward him._

 _She has the most vibrant red hair he has ever seen. There's so many subtle shades and nuances to it, he can't decide exactly what kind of red it is and the light catches it in such a way it is almost blinding to look at. Stephen would liken it to the radiance of the sun. Strange stands frozen to the spot as she gets closer. When she passes him, their gazes meet for the briefest of moments. Her eyes are a beautiful and bright green, shot through with gold around the pupils. She almost immediately breaks the eye contact and lowers her freckled face, shoulders hunching, in embarrassment or discomfort, Stephen doesn't know._

 _He turns a little to watch her go, a voice in the back of his head telling him to stop staring creepily at her, but the sight of a pair of bright red wings folded tightly against her back drives the thought away. The sun catches the feathers and, with the combination of her movement, turns them to shimmering and dancing fire. Stephen has never seen anyone like her before in his life._

 _"It's rude to stare, Strange."_

 _Stephen jumps at Mordo's sudden appearance by his side, too caught up in that unusual and extraordinary woman to notice his approach. "Who is_ she _?"_

 _Mordo claps his shoulder with an amused smirk. "Her name is Hayden Jones and she arrived here two months ago. If you want to know more, talk to her instead of staring at her with your mouth hanging open."_

 _With one last hardy clap, Mordo turns and walks away._

 _"My mouth was not hanging open," Stephen calls after Mordo's retreating back._

Stephen smiles to himself as he settles fully into bed, allowing the tension from the day to ease from his body. He never would have admitted it, but Strange could have caught flies had Mordo not said anything to him.

Hayden steps out into Kamar Taj's central courtyard, letting the early morning sunlight wash over her. She stretches her arms above her head and raises up on her tiptoes, her back giving a few satisfying pops. She lets out a long sigh as she next unfolds her wings and opens them to their fullest.

"Enjoying showing off?"

Hayden turns around and refolds her wings, reminding herself she doesn't need to squeeze them against her back anymore.

She smiles sweetly at Stephen, who stands behind her with his arms folded loosely and a confident smirk on his face. "I'm sorry, me, showing off? That's hilarious coming from you, Strange." She takes a couple steps back, returning his smirk. "Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for my morning exercise."

Without waiting for a response, Hayden reopens her wings and takes off, intentionally angling them in such a way that Strange gets several facefulls of gusty wind. She hopes it messes up his ridiculously perfect hair. She gains a fair bit of altitude before leveling out and doing slow, wheeling turns in the air, the wind rushing through her feathers and against her face a welcome sensation. Thanks to Kamar-Taj's magical warding, no one outside it can see its true inhabitants or anything that happens there. In other words, Hayden can fly as high or as low as she wants without having to worry about being seen and drawing unwanted attention.

Hayden looks down at the courtyard below and notices Stephen is still standing where she left him, looking up at her with a hand shielding his eyes from the sun. She's too high to see his expression, but she can feel his gaze on her like warm fingers, sending a small shiver down her spine. She hastily looks away from him, even though there's no possible way he could know she was looking at him. A familiar feeling, a feeling she's come to associate with Stephen, twists in her stomach and she wonders when these feelings she gets around Strange started.

Definitely not when she first saw him or when they first met months ago. Her first impression of Stephen Strange was that he was a rather self absorbed and fat headed former surgeon, desperate to fix his irreparable hands. She'd heard of him before on the news and various talk shows and what she thought of him when she saw him on tv didn't change when she met him at Kamar-Taj after a sling ring lesson.

It was the day after Hayden noticed him for the first time. She was just been passing through the courtyard on her way to the library when a sling ring doorway suddenly opened up and Stephen came spilling through, ice in his facial hair and shivering, at Mordo's and the Ancient One's feet. Hayden stopped, recognizing the signs of one of the Sorcerer Supreme's methods of motivation. She'd done the same thing to Hayden after her first week of struggling with the sling ring, except she'd dumped Hayden on a small island in the middle of the ocean.

Hayden walked over to the three of them and stopped next to the Ancient One. "Did you really leave him on Mount Everest? Now that's borderline cruel."

The corner of the Sorcerer Supreme's mouth quirked up. "Are you questioning my teaching methods, Hayden?"

"W-wait," Strange said through chattering teeth as he picked himself up from the ground. "Does she really d-do that to e-everyone?"

"Only to those like Hayden and yourself who are too stubborn to really listen to our teachings, " Mordo said as he looks between the two of them.

Hayden smothered the urge to bristle at Mordo's words. He didn't have a clue as to why Hayden struggled with the Mystic Arts when she first arrived at Kamar-Taj. She still hadn't completely grown accustomed to it. That old fear of hers loved to rear its ugly head.

Strange shot Mordo a dirty look as he wrapped his arms around himself. "I did listen and I did e-everything exactly as you said. I-it's not my fault you didn't t-teach well enough. "

Hayden's eye brows shot up at his spiteful words, her own irritation at Mordo forgotten, and she opened her mouth to say something in Mordo's defense, but the Ancient One began to chuckle, effectively silencing Hayden.

"And yet, when your life depends on it, you manage to open up a doorway back to Kamar-Taj." She gestured at Strange with her closed fan. "You must learn to let go, Stephen. That is the only way you will succeed here."

And with that, she turned and swept away, Mordo hot on her heels, leaving Hayden and Strange standing awkwardly behind. They stared at each other for several moments. Hayden forced herself not to tighten her wings against her back or to shrink under his gaze. She didn't need to hide anymore.

Hayden broke the awkward eye contact and began to step around the shivering man. "If I were you, I'd go change and wrap up in bed. Wouldn't want to cause temperature shock." She stopped a little ways away from him and looked over her shoulder at him. "But, I forget, the great Doctor Stephen Strange knows everything, right?"

With that, she turned and walked away.

After that, Hayden remembers noticing Strange's sorcery improving dramatically over the next few days. Because of this, Hayden had decided to confront him and ask him what he was doing to improve so quickly. She remembers the smirk he gave her as he offered to be her study and practice partner. She suspects the only reason he had offered at first was to make himself feel smarter than her and stroke his own ego. But, she agreed nonetheless and, from there, an unlikely friendship was formed. Sure, he was fat headed sometimes and, during particularly difficult practice sessions, he'd get angry and rant and rave about his useless hands. Hayden let him vent and didn't take any angry thing he said to her to heart. She understands very well what anger does to people, more than Stephen could ever possibly understand. Luckily for him, sharp words do less damage than fire.

On the good days, Stephen's dry humor and sarcasm bounces off of Hayden's playful teasing and banter well.

And over the months of sessions they spent together, the more infrequent those angry outbursts became until they stopped entirely to be replaced with the occasional "Yet my hands still shake." The duo even began sharing meals outside in Hayden's favorite haunt, under a shaded oak tree tucked away in one of Kamar-Taj's gardens. They became more than practice partners, they became friends and virtually inseparable.

That's around the time Hayden noticed the small, kind things Stephen would do for her. She'd mention she planned on going to the library to get a certain book from Wong at the end of the day, but Stephen would already be waiting for her in the courtyard with the book in hand. He started always having some sort of snack tucked away in his robes for Hayden, knowing she's constantly hungry. When she falls asleep doing late research in the library, she began to wake up under a blanket that smells like Stephen's after shave and a scent that is unique to him alone. Sometimes there was even an apple waiting beside her on the table top too.

Mordo seems to have noticed Hayden and Stephen's closeness and teases her relentless about it. "Should we be expecting a happy announcement soon?"

At first, she'd just roll her eyes at him and continue about her business, but as time went on and Mordo's antics continued, she'd find herself embarrassed after one of his light jabs, especially if Stephen was with her.

Now, she can barely look at her best friend without noticing the unusual blue green color of his eyes or the way they crinkle at the corners when he smiles or laughs. She's constantly distracted by the most tiny things about him when they're practicing, like the way it makes her feel when he touches her, even in the most platonic of ways.

Then there are the times when Stephen brushes the back of his hand against hers if they're standing next to each other or when they make eye contact and their gazes linger for slightly longer than normal. It drives her absolutely bonkers because she's not sure if it's her imagination or if she's reading too deeply into it.

Hayden is fairly certain she's falling for Stephen, hard. There's no other explanation for how he makes her feel and, if she's being completely honest with herself, that scares her. In all the time she's known him, she's told him almost nothing of her past. What if when he finds out what she did, why she doesn't use her fire-

She cuts that thought off and the memories that come with it and decides it's time land.

She looks down as she begins her descent, noticing Stephen is no longer standing in the courtyard below. She feels a small pang in her stomach and her face drops a little as her feet touch down on solid ground and her wings refold. She makes her way into the library and raises a hand at Wong in greeting and he acknowledges her wave with a nod from behind his desk as she passes.

Hayden moves further into the sizeable library, running her fingers over the spines of the shelved books as she passes them. There's something comforting about libraries to her. Maybe because they are so calm and quiet, a balm to the frequent turmoil of her soul. They make her feel at ease.

Hayden halts in her tracks, spotting a familiar blue grey tunic and dark hair a little ways down from her. She feels the now familiar jolt in her chest at the sight of Stephen as she pauses just a little longer to admire him. Stephen looks up from the book in his hands and turns his head to look at Hayden. Fighting off the urge to blush, Hayden gives him a painfully awkward wave as she approaches him.

"Admiring the view?" Stephen quirks an eyebrow at her as she stops at his side.

"Pssh, in your dreams, Doctor Ego." She bats him lightly with a carefully outstretched wing. "I didn't expect to find anyone so far into the library. What are you even doing here?"

Stephen closes the book he was looking at and reshelves it, avoiding looking at her. His sudden change in mood makes Hayden fidget for a moment, then take a small step closer to him as she lays a hand on his upper arm. "Stephen, is everything okay?"

He finally looks back to her, having come to a decision. "You know why I came to Kamar-Taj?" Hayden nods as he motions vaguely with his hands. "And we've known each other for a while and it occurred to me I don't know much about you at all or why you're even here."

Silence falls between the two of them as Hayden lets her hand drop from his arm and breaks eye contact.

"Can I see your hand?" She glances up at him briefly. Stephen's eyebrows furrow, but, after a brief moment of hesitation, he offers her one of his hands, palm up, regardless. Hayden takes it in both of hers, feeling it shake against her fingers. "You came here to fix your hands, but I think it's become more than that for you." She runs a thumb over the palm of his hand, hoping the shiver she thought she felt from him wasn't her imagination.

"When you've been hiding as long as I have, it's habit to keep that wall up." She takes a breath as she gently turns his hand over. "I'm sure you've figured out by now I'm a mutant. "

Stephen chuckles softly and the sound gives Hayden the courage to look up at him. "That's about all I've figured out from you. You're a real mystery, Hayden Jones."

She smiles briefly at him before her gaze drops back down to the warm, tremulous hand in hers. "I'm sure you also know how a lot of people think of mutants. So, I hid who I was, got used to holding my wings so tightly against my back they were always hurting." She traces the raised scars along the backs of Stephen's long fingers. Finally, she looks back up at him, his eyes soft as he meets her gaze. "I came to Kamar- Taj because I was tired of hiding who I was and I wanted to not-." Her voice cracks and her shoulders droop a little as the memories of that terrible, fiery, night rise up in her mind. She takes a deep breath and blinks rapidly for a moment. "- to not be afraid of myself anymore."

Stephen carefully draws her into a warm embrace and rubs soothingly between her wings. Hayden winds her arms around him and relaxes against his chest, eyes squeezed shut, letting him comfort her. They stay like that for several long moments as Hayden's emotions go from boiling to back to normal. She lets out a long exhale as the tension leaves her body, along with the urge to cry.

"I know you want to learn more about me, Stephen," she says without pulling away from him. "My past is not a happy one, but, I swear when I'm ready, I will tell you everything. "

 _Everything_.

What a terrifying thing to promise, something she's never promised anyone before in her entire life.

Stephen's grip on Hayden tightens and she feels him gently lean his head atop hers. "...Okay, Hayden."

"Thank you."

 _Thank you for having patience with me, though you have it with nearly nothing else. Thank you for trusting me to keep my promise. Thank you for not pushing me to talk about something so painful. Thank you-_

 _Thank you for actually caring about me._

Hayden gives Stephen one last squeeze before slowly letting him go and stepping away from him, one arm crossed over her body, the other hand tucked awkwardly in a pocket. They look at one another for a moment before Stephen breaks the tension, a tension Hayden isn't familiar with, between them by turning to look at the bookshelf and saying something about fetching a book for Wong. She pats Stephen's shoulder as she moves past him, taking the hint that he wants to be alone.

She forces down the small pang of disappointment she feels as she finds her way out of the bookshelves and into the main sitting area. Stephen is more than allowed to have his space. God knows he's more than willing to give Hayden hers. She approaches a shelf and unlatches a couple books at random, hoping some reading will help her get Stephen off her mind for a bit. Hayden settles down at a table and, resting her elbow on the tabletop and cradling the side of her face in her hand, flips open one of the books she picked.

She reads for an indeterminate amount of time before she feels drowsiness settle over her. She didn't sleep all that well the night before, kept awake by a combination of Stephen hovering in the back of her mind and old recurring nightmares. Deciding a little nap couldn't hurt, Hayden nudges the book aside and folds her arms on the desk before settling down, using her arms as a makeshift pillow. She lets sleepiness over take her, grateful for the chance to get a little rest.


	2. Two: The New York Sanctum

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm so excited to bring you chapter two! Sorry for the small bit of delay, I got home from work late tonight. Anyways, I won't keep ya anymore.

Enjoy,

Mundie

Hayden jerks awake at the sound of raised voices. She shoots up from the table she fell asleep at, accidentally scattering the books on its surface and sending her chair tipping backward. She spins around, a stomach dropping familiar warmth coiling inside her hands, just at the surface, ready for action.

The three standing around another desk several feet behind her are too busy arguing to notice her violent awakening.

Taking a deep breath, Hayden quickly makes her way toward Stephen, Mordo, and Wong, the warmth leaving her fingers. Mordo is saying something about time loops and paradoxes, voice alarmed.

"They really should put the warnings before that stuff," Stephen says as Hayden stops on the other side of the desk.

"What the hell is all the ruckus about?" Hayden says, catching everyone's attention.

Mordo points an accusatory finger at Stephen. "He was playing with the time-space continuum!"

Stephen shoots Mordo a scowl. "I was not-"

"We do not tamper with natural law," Wong says, voice lowered and stern. "We defend it."

That's when Hayden notices the familiar eye shaped pendant around Stephen's neck. "Stephen, please tell me you weren't playing with the Eye of Agamotto. "

"I wasn't playing with anything-"

"How did you do that?" Wong takes a small step closer to Stephen, keen eyes studying the other man's face. "Where did you learn the litany of spells to even understand it?"

Stephen's arms cross. "I have a photographic memory. It's how I was able to get my M.D and Ph.D at the same time."

Hayden momentarily tunes out of the conversation and leans over to get a better look at the book opened on the desk. Her eyebrows furrow as she turns the book around, scanning the sand script and the images on the page. She knows enough sand script to recognize the spell. It's the forbidden one the infamous Kaecilius stole six months ago. Hayden knows very little about the Eye of Agamotto, other than it can bend time, if one knows the extremely advanced spells to do so. Stephen must have used the Eye to put the spell back in the book.

"When are you going to start telling me what we are?"

Stephen's voice catches Hayden's attention and she refocuses on the conversation.

Mordo and Wong exchange a look, some silent message passing between the two of them. Hayden catches a look from Stephen thrown in her direction. She wants to know the answer to that question too. The Masters here, including the Sorcerer Supreme hold their cards close to their chests around the newcomers. Hayden has heard the Ancient One elude to a greater purpose Kamar-Taj serves other than helping lost souls find their way. She still doesn't know what that greater purpose is, but it looks as if she's about to find out.

Finally, Wong gestures for Stephen and Hayden to follow him and Mordo follows closely behind them. The librarian leads Hayden and Stephen up a small flight of stairs in the back of the library and into a large circular room. Three formidable doors are set into the opposite wall, a sizeable globe hanging above an empty pedestal set in the middle of the room. Hayden has caught glimpses into this room, but was never brave enough to venture in without permission. She halts, tilting her head up to get a better look at the globe and she sees as well as feels Stephen stop close beside her. She resists the sudden urge to take his hand and instead folds her arms, watching Wong and Mordo as they move to the other side of the pedestal.

"While heroes like the Avengers protect the world from physical dangers, we sorcerers safeguard it against more mystical threats," Wong says as he looks between Hayden and Stephen. "The Ancient One is the latest in a long line of Sorcerers Supreme going back thousands of years to the father of the mystic arts, the mighty Agamotto." Wong bends a stern look on Stephen and, if Hayden didn't know any better, she'd say he looks the slightest bit sheepish. "The same sorcerer who created the Eye you so recklessly borrowed."

Wong raises a hand and three large, golden spherical designs appear on the globe, encompassing the whole thing and casting light into the room. Hayden chances a glance at Stephen, noticing the way the light illuminates his eyes focused on the globe and the way it makes his cheek bones and facial structure much more prominent. She hastily looks away before any intrusive thoughts can enter her mind.

"Agamotto built three Sanctums in places of power, where great cities now stand. That door leads to the Hong Kong Sanctum, this door to the New York Sanctum. That one to the London Sanctum." Wong gestures to each door in turn as he names them off. "Together, the Sanctums generate a protective shield around our world. The Sanctums protect the world, and we the sorcerers the Sanctums."

Hayden's brain wheels as she processes this new information. The Chitauri attack on New York has made the threat of otherworldly beings more than clear. She just never imagined she'd play a part, however small, in protecting the Earth.

Stephen shifts his weight, probably unconsciously, in Hayden's direction. She can just start to feel the warmth of his hand against hers and she misses a good chunk of conversation thanks to her mind taking her unwillingly down a winding and extremely distracting Stephen filled path. She manages to rip herself back to reality just in time to hear about Dormammu and his quest to invade the universe and bring all worlds into his Dark Dimension.

Finally, Hayden finds her voice. "The pages that Kaecilius stole?"

"A ritual to contact Dormammu and draw power from the Dark Dimension," Wong says, his voice grave.

Mordo looks just as grave as Wong sounds.

"Woah, okay, timeout," Stephen says as he shakes his head, a note of uncertainty and disbelief in his voice. "I came here to heal my hands, not fight in some mystical war!"

Before anyone can respond, ominous bells toll.

"London." Wong says as he turns toward one of the doors.

"Kaecilius." Mordo says, fists clenched.

The door closest to Wong flies open with such force, it crashes violently against the stone wall. A man is running down a long hallway on the other side, but that's not what makes Hayden's eyes widen and her stomach drop. Standing further behind the fleeing man are three people, two in burgundy robes and the third in yellow. Before any of them can react, one person in red throws a strange reflective weapon, killing the fleeing man instantly. The yellow one conjures a large ball of golden energy above his head and raises his hands.

Hayden leaps forward without thinking, one hand extended. She hears Stephen call her name as a ball of fire leaves her palm, but it's too late.

Just as she feels a pair of arms catch her around her waist, Kaecilius strikes.

The energy orb explodes into the ground, creating a monumental blast that shatters the stone door like glass and throws Hayden and whoever caught her back. The duo crash through another Sanctum door, rocks roaring and collapsing, creating a large cloud of debris.

As the dust clears and the noise quiets, Hayden lays on her back half on top of her almost rescuer, eyes closed, too winded and stunned to move just yet, despite the uncomfortable press on her wings. Finally, she forces her eyes open and coughs, just as the someone underneath her lets out a groan and shifts their weight. She rolls clumsily off them and lays on the ground for a moment before forcing her aching body into a sitting position.

Stephen Strange sits up as well, perfect hair actually mused and face dirty from the debris cloud. He bleeds from a cut along one perfect cheekbone.

Before Hayden can even formulate a sentence, Stephen is shooting her a scowl. "What the _hell_ were you thinking, leaping _toward_ danger like that? You could have gotten us both killed!"

Hayden gets unsteadily to her feet. "It was instinctive, Strange and I didn't _ask_ you to grab me." She wipes at her face, wincing when she makes contact with a cut near her hairline.

Stephen stands as well and takes a step closer to her, practically towering over her thanks to how tall he is. "If I hadn't stopped you, you'd be _dead_! So, you're welcome."

Hayden scoffs, throwing up her hands and turning away from him and looking down the dimly lit hallway leading further into the Sanctum. " _Wow_ , can your head get any fatter?"

She doesn't bother to wait for his comeback.

Hayden begins to walk down the hallway, hoping to figure out which Sanctum she and Stephen were blasted into and get a bearing of her surroundings. She hears Stephen following her and she resists the urge to snap at him further. Now's not the time to be bickering.

The hallway opens up into a grand foyer, a large staircase going up to her left. Stain glass windows let in the afternoon sunlight and, if she listens carefully, she can hear voices outside and the sound of traffic passing by. Hayden turns to head up the staircase, but a warm and shaking hand snagging her wrist stops her.

"I saw what you did," Stephen says, voice lowered, his fingers tightening a bit.

Hayden freezes mid turn, face going pale and blood running cold. It had been a total accident to let that flame slip from her hand. God, it had to be the first time since-

Hayden jerks her wrist out of Stephen's grip and continues up the stairs as if he had never spoken. She hears him catch up to her, but she refuses to look at him.

They reach the top of the stairs and Stephen stops her again, this time by her upper arms and turns her to face him. "Why haven't you used it before now? Clearly you can control it, so why-"

" _Stephen._ " Hayden meets his eyes, her jaw clenched and face tight. She can feel herself beginning to shake under his grip, old memories she's tried so hard to suppress beginning to surface. "Enough."

Stephen has the good sense to let her go. He looks down at the ground, away from her, one hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.

Figuring that's as much of an apology she's going to get out of him and before she lets herself soften toward him, Hayden turns and makes her way further into the Sanctum. Stephen stays beside her, but doesn't try to initiate any conversation, much to her relief. She needs a bit of time to get her head back on straight.

The two enter a large room full of different artifacts kept in glass cases of various sizes. Most of them have some sort of mask or vase in them, all of which Hayden couldn't begin to guess the function of. It's strange, such normal looking items being kept behind glass cases, like priceless artifacts at a well known museum. Hayden passes one especially tall case, a vibrant red cape floating within. She pauses to look at it, admiring the golden clasps and the lovely color of the fabric. After a moment of being under Hayden's scrutinization, she swears the cape turns away from her with disinterest, just as Stephen steps up beside her.

Hayden feels distinctly offended and simultaneously ridiculous for letting a piece of clothing offend her.

Scoffing, she turns away from the cape, secretly hoping a similar reaction it gave her will irk it too. Freaking magic cloths and Sanctums and perfect cheekbones-

Unfamiliar voices drift into the room, causing Hayden to stiffen and prod Stephen with one of her wings. Without looking back, she slowly creeps toward the source of the noise, knowing Stephen is following close behind her. The thought both bothers and comforts her. That kind of emotional confusion is all Strange seems to be doing to her these days.

They pass silently through a large archway and press themselves against the wall, peeking around an artifact at the scene below.

Kaecilius and two of his zealots stand at the bottom of the staircase Stephen and Hayden used earlier, slowly approaching a man who must be a member of Kamar-Taj. She was too far away to see it before, but now Hayden notices the ugly purple scale like texture at the areas around Kaecilius' and his zealots' eyes. Just looking at them makes Hayden feel wrong, like something terrible and evil is leaking through those hideous scales into the real world, corrupting it.

"Daniel, I see they made you Master of the Sanctum," Kaecilius says, his calm voice and demeanor a jarring juxtaposition to the wrongness on his face.

"Do you know what that means?" Daniel's posture shifts into a defensive stance.

Kaecilius and his zealots mirror the Master's movement. "That you'll die defending it."

As he says this, Kaecilius presses his hands together before bringing them apart slowly, an oddly shaped and wickedly sharp object forming between his hands. It reminds Hayden of a long piece of glass. The light refracts off its surface, casting a momentary glare in her eyes. Hayden blinks rapidly to dispel the sudden glare and between one blink and the next, the fighting erupts. She jerks forward to help, join the fight, _something_.

Stephen is already shoving her roughly behind him and emerging from their hiding place."Stop!"

Thanks to the surprising force behind his shove, Hayden stumbles back several paces before falling on her butt with a painful _thump_. She's just about to get back to her feet, reminding herself to give Stephen a piece of her mind later if they make it out of this alive, but the sound of casual, _casual_ , conversation gives her pause.

"Just Doctor?" That's Kaecilius, voice as calm as ever.

Hayden, with a steadying fist to the ground, gets back to her feet.

"It's Strange," Stephen says.

 _No, it's irritating, selfless,_ Fathead _Strange._

She begins moving forward with caution, hoping no one down below notices her.

"Maybe," Kaecilius says, a shrug apparent in his voice. "Who am I to judge?"

Just as they come into Hayden's sight, the zealots and Kaecilius leap into action. Hayden is already airborne, soaring over Stephen's head, and full body tackling Kaecilius to the ground. They tumble several feet thanks to Hayden's momentum, grappling for the upper hand .

They come to a stop and Kaecilius gains the advantage over her, stabbing down with the strange glass like weapon. Hayden barely manages to form a shield in time. The weapon bounces off it and Hayden strikes out with her other hand, knocking Kaecilius off balance.

She takes her chance and _heaves_ him away from her.

Hayden scrambles to her feet as Kaecilius stands gracefully, appraising her with slightly narrowed eyes. She returns his stare, unwavering.

Kaecilius winds back his weapon and Hayden dives to the side. She feels the blade stir some of her feathers. She hits the ground and manages a sloppy roll and, using her distraction, Kaecilius bolts up the stairs.

With a curse, Hayden gets to her feet and gives chase, reaching the next level with a powerful flap of her wings.

She dashes into the artifact room and follows the sound of shattering glass off to her right. She clatters down a set of stairs. Hayden rounds a corner and nearly tumbles off an edge that shouldn't logically be there. The hallway has been turned on its head and Kaecilius and one other zealot stands in the middle of it like nothing is wrong at all. Hayden spots Stephen at the bottom, pulling himself out of one of three doorways.

The hallway slowly turns back to its natural state.

Hayden dashes down toward Stephen, who is grappling with the remaining zealot. He reaches for a glowing knob on the wall next to the broken door leading out to what appears to be a desert. She can just make out a red clad person running through the sand for the door.

Hayden blows past Kaecilius, skids past Stephen and the zealot, and touches the knob. The scenery changes to that of a peaceful forest.

She whirls back around, just in time to see Stephen shove the other zealot through a second glass door and touch the knob, turning the landscape from another forest to the Grand Canyon. They barely have time to make eye contact before Kaecilius is there, dual wielding those glass like swords.

He slashes at Hayden, forcing her to jump back, before he goes for Stephen. Strange manages to block one blow and Hayden leaps forward to catch Kaecilius' other arm. They struggle with him and, with surprising strength, Kaecilius grabs Stephen by the collar and tosses him aside like so much garbage. He catches Hayden with a hard backhanded blow across the face, knocking her to the ground.

She sees stars as her head spins and then Stephen is there, getting her to her feet and urging her ahead of him as they run. Hayden can hear Kaecilius pursuing them and, as they get swiftly up the stairs, Stephen conjures a glowing whip and Hayden her shields.

As soon as they reach the top of the stairs, they turn around just as Kaecilius jumps the railing and lands before them. Stephen strikes out at him with the whip and Kaecilius deflects it. Hayden, taking advantage of the opening, kicks him square in the chest.

Using his momentum, Kaecilius latches onto a pillar, swings around it and knocks Stephen into Hayden. This causes both their magical weapons to fizzle into nonexistence. They both crash through a glass case and land harshly, Stephen half atop her, in a tangle of limbs among broken glass on the other side. His sudden weight knocks the wind out of her lungs and cracks the back of her head against the ground.

Just as suddenly it was there, Stephen's weight is gone.

Kaecilius throws him through yet another case and steps over Hayden likes she's not even there. She snatches clumsily at his legs and manages to latch onto one. She doesn't see the blow coming until Kaecilius' other foot connects with her ribs.

She cries out breathlessly, the force of the blow rolling Hayden over and disengaging her from his leg. She struggles to catch her breath, every gasp of air she takes sending sharp bolts of pain through her body. Hayden forces herself to her knees, one arm wrapped around her aching side. She catches sight of Stephen laid against the broken case containing the floating cape from earlier, Kaecilius standing over him, glass sword raised.


	3. Three: An Indifferent Universe

**Author's Note** : Hey everyone, Mundie here! So, there's some medical stuff in this chapter. I did some research so I could to be as accurate as possible, but I'm not a doctor, so please forgive me for any future medical inaccuracies. xD

Thanks so much for reading, voting, and commenting!

-Mundie

Hayden stumbles to her feet and lurches forward several steps, just as Kaecilius drives his weapon down.

The cloak deftly reaches out and blocks the blow.

She fetches up against the remnants of a shattered case and the cloak blocks another strike. Tiring of its antics, Kaecilius knots his fist in Stephen's shirt front, turns, and tosses him roughly. Stephen manages to land on his feet, but he stumbles back, arms pinwheeling.

Hayden chokes on a scream when Stephen connects with the staircase railing and falls over the edge out of sight. The cloak is a mere blur of red as it dives over the edge too.

There's an agonizing pause in which nothing happens at all.

Then Stephen rises above the staircase, cloak billowing out behind him.

Hayden's knees nearly give out thanks to the relief, but Stephen quickly conjuring a whip reminds her there's still a fight to win. She's forcing herself upright, ignoring the new aches and pains in her body, and conjuring her shields as Stephen attacks Kaecilius with his weapon.

The whip wraps around Kaecilius' sword and Stephen attempts to pull it out of his hand. Kaecilius holds strong and, before Hayden can reach him, yanks Stephen toward him.

They collide and tumble to the ground, Stephen managing to spring up first. Kaecilius follows closely after.

Hayden reaches them in time to grab Kaecilius around the neck just as he lashes out at Stephen. The cloak yanks him back, the tips of his boots squeaking on the floor. Hayden throws Kaecilius to the ground, but he quickly retaliates by kicking her feet out from under her

She lands hard on her back, crushing her wings painfully, but she scrambles back to her feet as fast as she can, pushing down the pain. Kaecilius is swiftly approaching Stephen, who is having a hard time with the cape. He's pulling against it frozen in place, hand outstretched. It would have been comical had the circumstances been different.

With a powerful beat of her (throbbing) wings, Hayden clears Kaecilius and lands in front of him, deflecting a blow he had aimed at Stephen. She sees the cloak yank him back off to her right toward a wall display in the corner of her eye.

Kaecilius slashes at her with his weapon, regaining her full attention, the force of the blow glancing off her shield pushing her back a few steps. "You've become a real nuisance," he says to her, a hint of irritation in his voice.

She ducks under another attack and get's aroud him, hitting him with an outstretched wing as she passes. Hayden faces Kaecilius, shields up, ready for his next move.

Suddenly, Stephen calls out from behind her. "Hayden! _Duck_!"

She obeys immediately, dropping into a low crouch.

Something bulky and metallic goes over Hayden's head and latches onto Kaecilius with a series of clanking noises. It forces him to his knees and restrains him in the most ridiculous pose Hayden has ever seen.

She lets her shields dissipate and the tension from the fight leave her, now that the zealots are gone and Kaecilius is restrained. She wraps an arm around her aching ribs and gives her wings a few soothing half beats as Stephen steps into her line of sight. She looks up at him as he approaches her, noticing the tightness to his jaw, the thinness of his lips and the way his eyes seem to linger on a spot on her face. He has a few additional cuts and scrapes and a split lip, but nothing worse than that. Hayden can't help but notice the cloak looks really good on him and extenuates his broad shoulders.

"Stephen," she says, forcing down any more intrusive Stephen related thoughts, as he stops before her, Kaecilius momentarily forgotten. If they had cared to look at him, they'd see his eyes narrow, calculating them, as he looked between them. "Are you alright?"

He shakes his head at her and lets out a little scoff. "I should be asking you that." He raises a hand and ghosts his fingers over the throbbing bruise Kaecilius gave her on her cheek, his eyebrows furrowing. "You look like you lost a fight with a lawn mower."

Hayden's stomach flips over, pain momentarily forgotten, and her heart gives a little squeeze. "Gee, thanks. Feels like it too."

Stephen's hand drops back to his side, his frown deepening.

Kaecilius begins to mumble, his words muffled by the piece of metal over his mouth, effectively ending the small moment between Hayden and Stephen.

Strange turns toward him, shoulders visibly tightening under the cloak, and approaches Kaecilius. Stephen takes off the metal over the other man's mouth and rejoins Hayden on her right. Kaecilius' eyes are closed peacefully and he's speaking calmly in a different language.

"Oh, stop it," Stephen says, looking as if he regrets taking the gag off. "I said, stop it."  
Kaecilius doesn't even crack an eye open. "You cannot stop this, Mr. Doctor."

"Dude, what are you even talking about?" Hayden says, wincing and dabbing gingerly at a cut on her face. Why does he keep calling Stephen, 'Mr. Doctor'?

"The end and the beginning. The many becoming the few, becoming the One." Kaecilius says, finally opening his red and watery eyes.

Stephen shakes his head. "Look, if you're not going to start making sense-" He gestures with the metal gag."- I'm just going to have to put this thing back on."

Now that she's caught her breath, Hayden just wants Kaecilius to shut up so she can lay down somewhere and rest her aching body. "Stephen, just put the damn thing back on him," she says. "We're not gonna get any straight answers out of him."

Kaecilius ignores her, choosing to speak to Stephen. "Tell me, Mr. Doctor."

"Alright, look," Stephen says, clearly nearing the end of his tether. "My name is Doctor Stephen Strange."

"So you understand the laws of nature. All things age. All things die. In the end, our sun burns out, our universe grows cold and perishes. But the Dark Dimension, it's a place beyond time." Kaecilius' unnerving gaze travels between Hayden and Stephen. "We can all live forever, once this world takes its rightful place within the beautiful One."

"Sorry, but I don't think there's this New Age dimensional utopia in a place called the 'Dark Dimension'," Hayden says, using finger quotations. "And if Dormammu's so great, why'd he maim your face like that and turn you into a murderer?

Kaecilius' gaze cuts sharply over to Stephen. "They were mere tiny, momentary specks within an indifferent universe."  
Stephen's mouth opens a little, as if he's about to say something, but no words come out. Hayden feels like something important just went over her head.

"The world is not what it ought to be," Kaecilius says. "Humanity longs for a world beyond time, for time is what enslaves us. Time is an insult, as is death." A hint of passion enters his voice. "We do not seek to rule this world, but to save it and hand it over to Dormammu, the Why of all existence."

"The Sorcerer Supreme defends existence." Stephen fiddles with the piece of metal Hayden wishes he'd just put back on Kaecilius before setting it on the ground. "She's one of the reasons Kamar-Taj still stands."

"You came here to be healed, as we all have." Kaecilius says, disregarding what Strange just said.

Hayden doesn't miss the way Stephen's free hand flexes into a fist. She brushes the back of her hand against his, looking sideways at him. Hayden feels his fingers relax again and she can breathe a little easier.

Kaecilius doesn't appear to have noticed their silent exchange. "We came with the promise of being healed, while the Ancient One keeps the real magic for herself. Have you ever wondered why she's lived so long?"

A look of realization dawns on Stephen's face and Hayden, again, feels like she just missed something important.

Kaecilius looks way too pleased with himself, considering the position he's in. "Dormammu is not the destroyer of worlds, he is the savior of them."

"I find _that_ hard to believe," Hayden says, Kaecilius' utter confidence and the fact she's missed something important setting her teeth on edge. "All I've seen you do on his behalf is destroy and kill."

Stephen nods his head. "Hayden's right. Just how good can his kingdom be?"

Kaecilius then begins to laugh, _freaking_ _laugh_. Hayden's eyebrows furrow and she and Stephen exchange a quick, baffled glance.

"You think that's funny?" Hayden takes a threatening half-step toward Kaecilius, temper spiking. "You've _killed_ people, you almost killed Stephen." Hayden's fingers clench at her sides, beginning to warm, and Stephen places a hand on her shoulder; to stop her or comfort her, she's not sure. "You have no right to be happy about _anything_."

Kaecilius only shakes his head, a small smile still on his face. "No, what's funny is the Doctor has lost his sling ring."

Rapid footsteps can be heard coming up the stairs behind them, causing Hayden and Stephen to whip around. It's a zealot, arm raised to throw a familiar and deadly glass like sword.

Without thinking, Hayden jumps in front of Stephen with a shout, arms and wings splayed wide.

" _Hayden_!"

There's a reflective blur, then her body jerks and the wind leaves her lungs, Stephen's cry echoing in her ears.

The zealot is there a split second later, taking her shoulders and shoving her, hard. He could have breathed on her and she would have fallen heels over head anyway.

She tumbles down the stairs, feeling every painful step of her descent. Hayden finally rolls to a stop, on her stomach. She lays there for a moment, stunned and aching, wondering why her chest feels like someone's squeezing it. The sound of fighting up above catches her attention and she manages to get her arms underneath her and force herself into a sitting position.

That's when she sees the blood on her hands and smeared on the floor.

Slowly, she looks down, breathing turning ragged. The red substance is leaking from a hole in her cloth-

No, from a hole in her _chest_.

With this realization comes a dull throbbing from the wound site that radiates to her shoulders and back. Hayden presses one hand to the wound sticky and warm with blood as the pressure and pain in her chest increases. She grits her teeth, taking hold of the stairway railing with her other hand, and struggles to her feet.

She _has_ to get back up there and help Stephen.

The ground spins beneath her and a wave of lightheadedness crashes over her. Hayden leans heavily on the railing, gasping for breath, her knees practically knocking together from the strain of staying upright. She manages to get up one step, just as Stephen appears at the top of the stairs, cloak missing, the large window behind him casting some of his features into shadow. He hurries down the stairs and is there just in time to catch Hayden when her knees give out and her blood slicked hand slips from the railing.

He feels blissfully warm and she closes her eyes, thankful she doesn't have to stand on her own now.

Stephen gently lifts her up, cradles her against his chest and begins to walk. "Hayden-," Stephen says, his voice tight. She's never heard him sound that way before. "- I need you to keep your eyes open. Tell me what it feels like."

Hayden does as he asks, opening her heavy eyes as far as she can. " _Stephen_ ," she says on a breath. "My chest- it's _tight._ I-I can't breathe." Her breaths come even faster, panic beginning to twist in the pit of her stomach.

Stephen quickly sets her down, the movement spiking the pain in her chest to an almost unbearable level. "Hayden, look at me." He places a shaking hand on her cheek and other on her wound, applying pressure. Through the pain, she meets his eyes as he asked. Now that she's leaned against a wall, the pressure in her chest has lightened a bit. "You're going into shock. I need you to take as deep a breath as you can. Will you do that for me?" Hayden tries, but the tightness won't allow her to take anything more than a shallow breath. Stephen's fingers run over the extended veins in her neck, then takes her pulse. " _Damn it_ ," Stephen's voice cracks.

He stands up and quickly opens a sling ring portal.

Huh, he must have gotten his ring back from the zealot somehow.

Stephen is back a second later, easing her into his arms, stepping through the portal, and bursting through a set of stainless steel double doors into what can only be a hospital. Hayden bites down on a whimper, wishing more than anything the pain and dizziness would just go away.

A nurse rushes up to them, alarmed, as she looks between Stephen and the bleeding and half conscious girl in his grasp. "Sir, can I help you?"

"Dr. Palmer, where is she?" His grip on Hayden tightens a margin and she's beginning to feel a bit drowsy.

"Sir, we need to-"

" _Where_ is she!" Stephen's voice shoots up a decibel, startling Hayden out of her drowsiness.

"At the nurses' station!" The nurse quickly gets out of Stephen's way.

He goes as fast as he can without jarring Hayden too much and a woman with her hair pulled back into the ponytail rounds a corner, having heard her name and the commotion Stephen's made.

Her mouth drops open and she rushes over to them. " _Stephen_? Oh my, God. What-,"

"Christine, we need to get her on an operating table, _now_ ," he says as he rushes to another door, the pretty doctor Christine following close behind. "Just you."

They burst through the doors into a spacious room with a metal table set in the center. Hayden shivers and winces when Stephen sets her down on the table, the metal cold against her and pressing into her wings.

Christine appears on Hayden's left, fingers already working on the ties of her tunic. "What happened?" She looks up at Stephen expectantly.

"She was stabbed." Stephen's voice breaks again as he takes Hayden's hand, fingers squeezing. The gesture calms her a little and brings her some comfort, despite the still building pain and tightness in her chest. "She's going into cardiac tamponade."

Christine's face tightens as she pulls the front of Hayden's tunic apart just enough to reveal the ugly wound just below the bottom of Hayden's bra line. In any other circumstance, she would have been embarrassed. "Pericardial sac punctured?"

Stephen quickly looks away from Hayden. "Yes, it's filling."

Hayden squeezes Stephen's fingers as Christine rushes around the room, collecting whatever she'll need. Stephen's eyes interlock with hers and, for a moment, Hayden can't breathe for an entirely different reason. There's pain and concern in those eyes of his, but deeper down, there's something she can't identify, something that warms her stomach.

Christine swabbing down the crook of Hayden's arm and the prick of a needle draws her attention away from Stephen for a moment. "Okay, the pain medicine's administered. Now, I need to…."

Christine's voice becomes far away and darkness encroaches Hayden's vision.

Her fingers spasm around Stephen's as she tries to fight off the darkness. "Stephen, I-I-"

Unconsciousness drags her down and under.

Hayden finds herself ejected from her body and she gasps from the suddenness of it. She looks down at herself, realizing she's completely translucent, weightless, and hovering above the operating table; an Astral Projection. Hayden moves over to Stephen's side, looking at her body on the table.

Stephen's hand tightens on her slack one. "Hayden, _Hayden_." The clear urgency in his voice twists Hayden's stomach. "Come on, don't you _dare_ die on me now."

Christine gets her hooked up to a heart monitor and picks up a long needle. "She's not going to die." She sounds determined and that seems to calm him a little.

Stephen's face is tight, his jaw locked. She longs to reach out to him, comfort him, but she isn't skilled enough in Astral Projection to materialize herself in the real world. His obvious distress causes Hayden to feel a bit guilty for putting him through this. But if she hadn't jumped in front of him, he'd be on that table, dying, instead of her.

Hayden winces when Christine inserts the long needle into her body's chest near the wound site.

She sees unexpected movement in the corner of her eye and spins around.

A zealot's Astral Projection enters the room straight through the door, looking around until his eyes alight on Hayden.

She allows herself to drift up, going on the defensive.

The zealot launches himself at Hayden and she narrowly manages to get out of the way. She lets herself hit the wall embedded with an observational window, instead of going through it. The zealot, using power from the Dark Dimension, forms another glass sword and there's not a doubt in Hayden's mind she could die just as easily in this form as she can in her physical body.

And, since she isn't harnessing Dormammu's power, Hayden can't make any sort of weapon in her Astral form.

The zealot smirks at her, having come to the same conclusion she just did.

She ducks just in time, the zealot's blade singing over her head. She dives around her attacker and goes straight through Christine and Stephen, her Astral energy pushing them off balance. Hayden sees the look of realization on Stephen's face, then the zealot is on her again.

She catches his blow, then kicks him in the chest. He sails a decent distance across the room before phasing halfway through a wall, catching himself on it. He pulls himself out and raises his weapon, preparing to throw.

Stephen's Astral Projection appears before him, twisting the weapon out of his hands and driving it into his ghostly chest.

There's no blood, no cry of pain, just a soft hiss as the zealot dematerializes into nonexistence.


	4. Four: All Encompassing

**Author's Note** : Hey everyone! Welcome back to the story! I just wanted to apologize for my sudden disappearance from the Internet. I'll be uploading as normal now!

Thanks for reading!

-Mundie

In the beats of silence that follow, Hayden approaches Stephen. "So, I guess this makes us even, right?" When he doesn't respond, she reaches out and touches his shoulder. Even though he's just an Astral Projection, Hayden can feel the tension beneath her fingers. "Stephen?"  
He turns around, shaking her hand from his shoulder. "Even? After that stunt you pulled?" he says, voice harsh as he scowls down at her, tight lipped. "Do you have some sort of pathological need to put yourself at risk?"

Hayden takes a step back, gaping at Strange, hands clenched at her sides. "What is your _problem_ -"

He takes a half step closer. "You're _dying_ -"

"So, _what_ , Stephen?" Hayden straightens up, looking him directly in the eye. "That's what people _do_." She jabs a finger at the operating table, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry _I'd_ rather be on that table instead of _you_ , since me s _aving your ass_ is obviously a _huge_ nuisance for you!"

Stephen face is beginning to turn red. "Oh, _please_. If anything, _I've_ been nothing but a nuisance to _you_ right? So, why would you do _that_?"

Hayden's voice rises to a shout. " _Because I can't lose you too_!"

She turns away from him, fighting down the sudden spike of emotion and the tears stinging the back of her eyes. The night she mutated rises with a vengeance in her mind and she clenches her fists hard enough to cause pain. _That_ forces the memory away, along with the tears.

There's another long moment of silence, then Stephen places a hesitant hand on her shoulder. "Hayden, I'm-"

"What, _sorry_?" She lets out a small bitter laugh.

His hand tightens on her shoulder and when he speaks, his voice is soft, all traces of his earlier anger, gone. "Did it ever occur to you that I actually care about you?"

Hayden feels his words like an electrical shock that leaves behind hope and warm feelings instead of pain and tingling.

But a long piercing sound from the heart monitor hooked to Hayden's physical body cuts through the room and sends a jolt of a completely different kind through her Astral form. She had totally forgotten about Christine and the urgency of her physical predicament

Stephen shoves her toward the table roughly. "Get back in your body, _now_!"

Hayden doesn't need to be told twice. She darts over to the operating table and closes her eyes, blackness once again overtaking her.

Hayden jerks back into reality with a gasp. She looks around wildly, the bright lights blinding her for a moment.

A warm and familiar tremulous hand takes hers. "Hayden, everything's alright. You're back."

The gesture and Stephen's voice grounds her, calming her rapidly beating heart. She relaxes back on the table, blinking the glare out of her eyes. The first thing she sees is Stephen leaning over her, his brow creased and lips turned down in a frown. Next, she sees Dr. Palmer setting a defibrillator aside.

Hayden looks back at Stephen, the memories of her Astral experience returning to her. "My heart stopped." Stephen's hand tightens around hers and she returns the pressure. She realizes how terrible it would have been if the last thing she ever said to Stephen was out of anger. "I'm sorry."

He nods, a small smile on his lips. "Me too."

That leaves a warm feeling in Hayden's chest and she returns his smile.

Christine turns back to Hayden, holding a thread and needle in her gloved hands. "I've never seen a wound like this before, Hayden. What what you were stabbed with?"

Hayden remembers the front of her tuic is partially opened and she represses the urge to flush in embarrassment. "I don't know."

"Hayden, I'm a doctor," Stephen says, noticing her embarrassment. "It's not anything I've never seen before."

She lets out a small, nervous laugh as Christine gets to work stitching her up; thankfully, there's no pain, only a strange tugging sensation. "That's not very comforting, you know."

There's several moments of awkward silence.

Dr. Palmer makes brief eye contact with Hayden. "Do either of you care to explain what the hell is happening? I mean, it's been months since I last saw Stephen and he shows up out of the blue and passing out on the ground with barely any explanation."

"That's kind of a long story," Hayden says, looking between Christine and Stephen, realizing there's definitely history between them. Which is none of her business of course. "And I honestly think you don't want to know."

"It's okay, Hayden," Stephen says with a reassuring squeeze of her hand before he lets go. Hayden immediately misses the warmth.

He goes on to explain where he's been all this time, telling Christine a little about Kamar-Taj.

"So, you joined a cult," Christine says, finishing up a suture and moving on to the next. She looks to be about three quarters of the way done already.

Hayden gives a light laugh as Stephen back pedals a bit. "Well, no, not exactly. I mean, they did teach me to tap into powers I didn't even know existed."

"That sounds like a cult," Dr. Palmer says with a small smile.

"It's not a cult."

"That's what a cultist would say, Stephen," Hayden says as she catches his eye.

Christine finishes up the last suture, strips off her gloves and helps Hayden close her blood stained tunic. "So, you're part of this cult too, huh?"

"You heard Stephen, Dr. Palmer. It's not a cult," Hayden says, managing a weak joke as she begins to push herself into a sitting position with a groan.

Stephen helps her sit up and Christine looks alarmed. "Whoa, where do you think you're going. I need to keep you under observation for at least twenty four hours."

"It's alright," Hayden says as she flexes her stiff wings. Christine notices the movement and jumps a little when she realizes what they are. "I'm a mutant. I happen to heal faster than normal people."

"Christine's right," Stephen says as he bends a disapproving look on her. "You should stay here."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Strange." Hayden eases her legs over the edge of the table. "We're late for a cult meeting anyway."

Hayden gingerly slides off the table, thankful Stephen is there to steady her. Her legs feel like a strange mixture between super stiff and jelly.

Stephen wraps an arm around her shoulders, letting Hayden lean on him. "I want you to know I think this is a really bad idea."

Christine walks ahead of the duo and holds the door open as they shuffle out of the operating room. "I second that... Where are you guys even going?"

Stephen and Hayden exchange a look.

"Just tell me the truth," Christine says as she walks on Hayden's other side.

"Well, a powerful sorcerer, who gave himself over to an ancient entity and can bend the very laws of physics, tried very hard to kill us but we left him chained up in Greenwich Village-," Stephen says as they arrive at the double doors they came through earlier."-and the quickest way back is through a dimensional gateway I opened in the mop closet."

"Okay, don't tell me, fine," Dr. Palmer says as she opens the doors and allows Stephen and Hayden to go through first. Her eyes widen as she lets the broom closet doors shut behind her. The sling ring portal is still there in all its sparky glory. "Whoa."

Stephen steps up into it and helps Hayden through as well.

"Thanks for patching me up, Dr. Palmer," Hayden says as she gives a little awkward wave at the gaping Christine.

"We really must be going," Stephen says, before he lets the portal close.

"I kind of feel bad for her." She turns to face Stephen, feeling much steadier on her feet. "It's a lot to process."

"She can handle it," he says. "She's a strong woman."

There's a hint of remembrance in his voice and that forms a bitter and unpleasant knot in Hayden's stomach. She forces it away, telling herself she has no reason to be-

 _Jealous_.

She bites her lip and looks away from Stephen. "She sure seemed like it." That's when Hayden notices the cloak waiting patiently a couple feet away, levitating serenely a couple inches from the ground. "You're cape's waiting for you."  
Stephen goes over to it and Hayden follows. "It's not a cape, it's a cloak."

He wraps his fingers around the collar and with one deft motion of his arm, it whirls around him in a soft red blur and settles on his shoulders.

Hayden raises her eyebrows in an unimpressed fashion at him, despite the warm feeling growing in her chest. "If you're trying to be cool, then it's ( _working_ ) not working." Stephen shakes his head at her and opens his mouth to retort, but she cuts him off. " _Anyway_ , where has it been this whole time?"

Stephen's face tightens a fraction. "It was keeping that zealot busy while you were..." He winces a little and Hayden touches a hand to her chest. "I was able to get my sling ring back because of it."

Hayden takes a half step closer to him and hesitantly takes his hand. "About back at the hospital, you're not actually a nuisance, Stephen," she says, briefly making eye contact with him before looking away. "I'd be dead if you hadn't been here and I don't know how to thank you enough for that." She draws her thumb over his knuckles. "Despite the fact we bicker a lot, you're the greatest friend I've ever had-" _Friend? Why does that feel so wrong to say?_ "- and you've always been there for me. I'm sorry I haven't been as good to you as you've been to me."

Stephen's fingers squeeze hers. "Hayden, look at me." She does as he asks and there's a blatant softness in his eyes she can't recall seeing before. It fills her up and warms her heart. "You have been more than I could have ever asked for, so don't think for a second you haven't been enough."

His kind words cause tears to prick at the back of her eyes. She looks away from him for a moment, blinking them back and letting out a small self deprecating laugh. The world has been telling Hayden her entire life that she's a freak, that she doesn't belong and that she'll never be enough. So to have Stephen, the man that she's grown to-

Her thoughts grind to a screeching halt and the realization hits her like a ton of bricks. All these warm feelings and pangs she's been getting around him, her jealousy of Christine, her willingness to throw her life away if it meant he got to live, it suddenly all makes sense and boils down to one all encompassing phrase.

 _The man she's grown to_ love.

There's a release somewhere in her, thanks to finally admitting it to herself, and that release brings forth a whole wave of emotions crashing over her, drowning her.

" _Hayden_." Stephen's voice silences and calms the wave back into peacefulness. "Are you alright?"

She blinks rapidly and looks back up at him, her heart giving a lurch when their eyes meet. "Oh, um, yeah. I'm fine." Which is a complete and utter lie. Her eyes flick down to his mouth for a moment and she gulps. "I just- realized something." Almost without her noticing, she begins to slowly lean up, thanks to a strange and new magnetizm forming between them.

Stephen's other hand comes up and brushes a strand of hair back into place, eyes following the movement, before lightly cupping her cheek. "And what would that be?" He begins to lean down too.

Hayden's voice dies in her throat when they make eye contact again, her train of thought careening off its tracks. She gathers the courage to close the gap all at once and-

"Strange, Jones! You're okay!"

Stephen and Hayden immediately pull away from each other and turn to face the direction the unwelcome voice came from. It's Mordo, coming down the stairs with a distinctly relieved and oblivious look on his face. She wishes she could punch him for barging in at exactly the _wrong_ moment.

Hayden suppresses a sigh. "Well, generally speaking."

Mordo stops at the bottom of the stairs and motions for them to follow him. "Come, the Ancient One is waiting." He turns and begins to make his way back up the stairs.

Stephen glances at Hayden and offers her a small awkward half smile before following Mordo. She goes after them, attempting to calm the maelstrom brewing in her mind. She and Stephen were about to kiss, _kiss_. That means he's at least attracted to her, right? People normally don't go around almost- kissing people they're not attracted to, right?

 _Right_?

As the three of them emerge into the artifact room, stepping around the piles of broken glass scattered about, she forces any thought of what transpired between her and Stephen away. She'll have plenty of time to overanalyze it later. Momentarily tuning out the conversation between Stephen, Mordo, and the Ancient One, Hayden notices what appears to be the body of the zealot from the operating room laying on the ground near the top of the stairs. She goes over to him and crouches down, wincing when she notices the glassy look to his eyes. Hayden presses two fingers to his throat and doesn't feel a pulse. Letting out a slow breath, she stands back up and moves away from the body.

Yes, Stephen obviously saved her life in that operating room, but he had to kill someone, albeit someone who was arguably evil and definitely trying to kill her. It's a weight he'll carry for the rest of his life and that's the last thing Hayden, knowing from experience, wants on Stephen's shoulders.

"No, it's _Doctor_ Strange. Not Master, not Mr. _Doctor_."

Hayden stops at Stephen's side and bites her lip, her hands twisting in front of her.

"When I became a doctor, I swore an oath to do no harm." He gives a small angry gesture. "And I have just killed a man. I am not doing that again. I became a doctor to save lives, not take them."

Hayden winces when he says this and she looks away from him as her shoulders droop a bit. If she had done something different in that operating room, then maybe Stephen wouldn't have had to kill that zealot. Maybe she could have prevented that from happening somehow.

Thanks to her bad habit of getting lost in her own head, Hayden missed another chunk of conversation.

"Like how you feed off him?" Stephen takes a step closer to the Sorcerer Supreme, shoulders tight and voice sharp. "You talk to me about controlling death, but I've seen the rituals from the book of Cagliostro."  
"Measure your next words _very_ carefully, doctor." The tone of her voice is calm, but there's a subtle hint of warning in it too.

"Stephen, what are you talking about?" Hayden says, stepping up beside him and touching his arm.

Mordo looks between the three of them, obviously feeling the rising tension in the room.

"I'm talking about her long life, the source of her immortality." Stephen turns his head and makes eye contact with Hayden. "She draws power from the Dark Dimension to stay alive."

Hayden opens her mouth, but Mordo is already speaking, stepping forward. "That's not true!"

Stephen breaks the eye contact with Hayden and looks over at Mordo. "I've seen the rituals, worked them out." His gaze cuts back over to the Ancient One. "I know how you do it."

She's standing there, just looking at him. "Once they regroup, the zealots will be back. You'll need reinforcements."

With that, she turns and exits the room.


	5. Five: The Mirror Dimension

**Author's Note** : Hey everyone! I am officially back from the dead! Sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth for a while without notice! No worries though, we are back in business, baby!

Thanks for your patience,

Mundie

Hayden looks after the Ancient One, slightly open mouthed, her mind going at a thousand miles per second. If what Stephen said is true, that means she's been lying to everyone all this time. Been betraying them for all this time, even.

But something in Hayden rejects that idea. Sure, she may have been lying, but everyone has their secrets and the Ancient One only ever used that power for good.

"You killed a man to save your own life and whined about it like a wounded dog! You're a coward."

Hayden jerks back into reality, upon realizing Mordo said that to Stephen and takes a step forward. " _That's_ a lie! Stephen is no more of a coward than I am. So, sorry the thought of freaking _killing_ a person is a hard pill to swallow!"

"Your judgement of him is clouded by your emotions." Mordo glares at her. "You're only defending him because you love him and because you can't see what he truly is."

Hayden feels the heat rush to her face and her hands clench at her side thanks to her mixed emotions. She carefully avoids looking at Stephen, willing the flush to her face away.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Strange says, irritation in his voice. "Don't pretend you're some omnipotent being, Mordo. You're just a human, like the rest of us."

Before anyone can formulate a response, the sound of a heavy door crashing against a wall reverberates through the Sanctum.

"They're here," Mordo says with grim determination.

The trio hurry from the room to the source of the sound and into the Sanctum's foyer. They freeze at the top of the stairs and stare at the large energy orb Kaecilius and two more zealots are forming.

The same kind of energy orb that destroyed the London Sanctum.

Mordo leaps into action, knocking the two zealots away, leaving Kaecilius standing.

Hayden surges forward, but Stephen stops her with a firm grip on her shoulder. " _Stay_ there."

She tries to pull herself from his grip. "No, I-"

"Do you trust me?"

Their eyes meet for a half second before Hayden answers. "With my life."

Stephen's features soften, but he's gone before she can make any further comment.

The cloak lifts Stephen over the staircase and just before Kaecilius unleashes the energy orb, Strange raises his hands.

The familiar and reflective geometric walls appear around them. Hayden can't help but smile.

"The Mirror Dimension," Stephen says, still levitating ( _like a badass_ ). "You can't affect the real world in here. Who's laughing now, _asshole_?"

Kaecilius has the audacity to freaking smirk. "I am."

He presses his hands together in a horizontal prayer position before making a large circle with them. Reality folds upon itself with a series of strange clattering sounds. Hayden clenches her jaw and leaps into action, opening her wings and going around Stephen. She helps Mordo disengage from the zealots and, forming a whip, she snags one of them around the ankle and hurles him across the room.

She winces and bites her tongue as the movement pulls painfully on her chest wound. This fight is going to suck.

Suddenly, Stephen is beside her, seizing her wrist and pulling her out of the Sanctum and into the street outside. Mordo follows close behind and the three of them turn to watch as the Sanctum appears to split off into a thousand different pieces, folding back on itself and creating strange mirror images.

Stephen turns to Mordo and Hayden, showing them a familiar golden ring in his hand. "I got their sling ring, that means they can't escape right?"

Kaecilius and his zealots are fast approaching from inside the folding Sanctum.

"Run!" Mordo gestures for them to follow him.

And they do, taking off down the street. A car drives directly toward them and Stephen pulls Hayden out of the way just in time. Mordo rolls onto the sidewalk and they continue to run, Stephen's hand still gripping hers. They stop in the middle of an intersection as the road on their left and right folds down, cars driving over a sharp edge and disappearing to the other side. Hayden squeezes Stephen's hand.

Mordo runs up beside them. "Their connection to the Dark Dimension makes them more powerful in the Mirror Dimension." Mordo looks at the scene around them. "They can't affect the real world, but they can still kill us! This wasn't cleverness, this was suicide."

Hayden opens her mouth to protest, to say no innocent bystanders can get hurt now, but they spot Kaecilius and his zealots running down the street toward them, pushing cars sharply out of their way.

The trio are off again and Stephen lets go of Hayden to create a sling ring portal not too far ahead of them. But before they can reach it, the world turns sideways and the ground disappears from under their feet. They fall, Stephen and Mordo landing sharply onto a bus. Hayden beats her wings a few times and manages to land sloppily in a crouch between them.

There's an old man on the other side of the glass, wearing sunglasses, a hat and jacket. He's reading a book, laughing a little, and Hayden can just make out what he's saying. "That is hilarious!"

But they're jumping off the bus before Hayden can figure out just what is so funny about that book.

They land on a skyscraper, running along the side as Stephen opens yet another portal. Suddenly, the glass beneath them begins to turn to waves, knocking them off balance and making the portal disappear into nothing. The building twists unnaturally beneath them, throwing Hayden, Stephen, and Mordo off the side and into open air. Buildings continue to fold into themselves as they fall. There's a horizontal skyscraper fast approaching beneath them. Hayden unfolds her wings and slows her descent, landing on the building first. The cloak slowing Stephen down enough for him to land safely, followed closely by Mordo and his Vaulting Boots.

They run again, quickly reaching the end of the building where they stop and take it all in. The city has been broken up into large cubes, skyscrapers jutting out of the sides. The cubes rotate slowly, as do their mirrored counterparts. Cars continue to drive along the roads like nothing is wrong at all and Hayden is glad Stephen put them in the Mirror Dimension. At least no one but the three of them can potentially be hurt.

Just as Hayden reaches reflexively for Stephen's hands, the ground jerks beneath them and they're falling yet again. A yell of surprise leaves her, but it's immediately sucked away by the wind rushing past her. They fall for entire seconds into an abyss of mind bending and headache inducing city reflections before landing roughly on a twisted fire escape.

"Come on!" Stephen twines his fingers with Hayden's and leads her forward, running as fast as they can.

The ground and terrain around them keeps changing, putting obstacles in front of them and even dropping them through a hole in the ground. Hayden stumbles when they land and Stephen steadies her. She ignores the ache in her chest, the soreness in her body, and instead concentrates on running and how warm Stephen's hand feels in hers. She catches glimpses of Kaecilius or his zealots pursuing them in the corner of her eye and those sightings help spur her on.

The ground opens up beneath them one more time and they fall, slipping through a cacophony of sights and sounds that goes by too fast for Hayden to follow or process properly. Their feet hit the ground, sending a shock through her legs and the rest of her body. She and Stephen only make it a little further before Kaecilius is there.

He lashes out at them, forcing them to separate. Hayden doesn't see the open handed blow to her chest until it lands. Stars dance across her vision and she almost blacks out, the pain is so unbearable. It takes her several moments to catch her breath, for the pain to clear, and for her to realize she's laying on the ground.

She forces herself into a sitting position, spotting Kaecilius with Stephen pinned to the ground not too far away. Kaecilius forms a long glass shard just as Hayden summons a whip. She lashes out, catching his wrist and preventing the blow from landing just as the piece of metal Stephen lays on disconnects and drifts back out of reach.

Hayden doesn't have time to think on it too much because, with a powerful jerk of his whip wrapped arm, Kaecilius sends Hayden flying toward Stephen. She manages to open her wings and slow herself down enough for him to catch her without falling over. She refolds her wings and stays with her arms wrapped around Stephen just a little longer, wanting to feel him breathe and reassure herself that he's alive and unharmed. He doesn't seem to mind; if anything, he only holds her a little tighter.

Hayden pulls slowly away from him, realizing they still could be in a lot of danger. She stays close to his side, taking in the scene around her.

The Ancient One has arrived, forming a large circular and clear area for her and Kaecilius to stand on. His zealots remain on their own detached pieces of land opposite Hayden and Stephen, much like the one she and Strange share. Mordo is not too far away on their right, also standing on a lone piece of metal.

The Ancient One stands at the ready opposite Kaecilius, glowing, orange, and magical fans in both her hands. She's regarding Kaecilius, as he is her.

Hayden takes Stephen's hand and squeezes, hoping some contact with the person she trusts most in this world will chase away the terrible sinking feeling she feels in her gut.

There's only so many outcomes that can spawn from this encounter and Hayden knows it probably won't be a good one.


	6. Six: Watch the Snow

**Author's Note** : Hey everyone! So, in order to make up for me missing two update days, you're going to get both the chapters I owe you today! The next chapter will be up soon after this one! Sorry for the delay, you guys.

-Mundie

The tension in the air rises to almost palpable levels. That's when Hayden sees the marking on the Ancient One's forehead.

The same marking Kaecilius and his zealots sport.

"It's true." Mordo stares with wide eyes at the Sorcerer Supreme. "She does draw power from the Dark Dimension."

She looks briefly at Mordo, something in her eyes Hayden can't quite read, before refocusing on Kaecilius. They begin to circle each other, building the tension further. Hayden allows herself to lean on Stephen, willing the aching in her chest to go away. He gives her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I came to you, broken, lost, and bleeding," Kaecilius says. "I trusted you to be my teacher and you fed me lies."

"I tried to protect you-," says the Ancient One. "-from yourself."

"I have a new teacher now." That familiar note of admiration enters Kaecilius' voice.

"Dormammu deceives you. You have no idea what he truly is." The Ancient One stops circling. "His eternal life is not paradise, but torment."

Kaecilius halts and his zealots hop nimbly from their perch and join their leader. "Liar."

The Ancient One raises her fans as Kaecilius and his zealots summon glass swords.

The fight breaks out a split second later.

The zealots attack the Sorcerer Supreme and she deftly blocks their blows and knocks their feet out from under them. Kaecilius chooses this moment to converge, clearly matching his former teacher in strength. They exchange several blows in quick succession, almost too quick for Hayden to follow.

She longs to join the fight, but she's far outmatched by Kaecilius and would only get in the way. She doubts Stephen would let her try to help regardless.

The zealots are back on their feet and attacking the Sorcerer Supreme alongside Kaecilius and in a flurry of blocked strikes and clean kicks, the zealots are again momentarily incapacitated and Kaecilius knocked to the ground.

He rolls with the force of the blow and hits the surface beneath him with a closed fist, creating a wave of cobbled stone. The Ancient One arches with the ground's movement and sends it back at Kaecilius with twice the strength.

A swell of admiration and awe goes through Hayden at the sight of the Ancient One's clear and precise control of the Mystic Arts.

One of the zealots leaps at the Sorcerer Supreme and Hayden refocuses on the fight, her hand tightening once again around Stephen's.

The Ancient One grapples with the zealot for several moments and knocks her away just as the second one attacks. She restrains the attacker, her mystic fan held against his neck just as Kaecilius lunges. She raises her other fan to block his blow, leaving herself wide open.

Kaecilius takes his chance and stabs _through_ the zealot standing between him and the Ancient One.

Straight into her torso.

Hayden breaks away from Stephen with a strangled cry as Kaecilius opens a sling ring portal.

She goes airborne just as Kaecilius knocks the zealot aside and kicks the Ancient One in the chest. Hayden reaches out toward her and is just inches away from catching her before something extremely solid, a jutting chunk of ground formed by Kaecilius, knocks Hayden out of the air.

She hits the ground hard, the wind leaving her lungs. She sees stars as she forces herself onto her back and tries to catch her breath. She presses her hand against her chest in a vain attempt to alleviate the pain.

A split second later, Stephen appears in her line of sight and quickly helps her to her feet. He wraps an arm around her waist and she leans on him heavily. The cloak lifts them up and they get through the sling ring portal, followed closely by Mordo just before it closes. They land on a busy New York sidewalk and Stephen quickly guides Hayden through the crowd. They reach the center of the gathered bystanders and Hayden's stomach drops.

There in a crumpled heap among broken glass is the Ancient One.

Hayden pulls away from Stephen, wincing. "Go. I can stand on my own." She looks around, realizing Mordo is nowhere to be seen.

Stephen hesitates for a split second before going to the Ancient One's side. Hayden looks down on the Sorcerer Supreme's body, feeling a pang in her chest. If she had been a little faster, maybe the Ancient One wouldn't have suffered such a catastrophic fall. Maybe she could have prevented this.

Hayden then becomes aware of the bystanders murmuring to one another, and she catches people standing nearby either openly staring at her or sending her looks of disgust. She hears the word 'mutant' circulating around her, pressing down on her. For a moment, she almost squeezes her wings painfully tight against her back and bows her head.

 _No_.

Instead, she straightens her spine and raises her chin.

Stephen stands to his feet and opens a sling ring portal, drawing an audible sound of surprise from the gathered civilians. Hayden rushes to his side as he gently picks up the Sorcerer Supreme. He glances at Hayden as they go through the portal and closes it behind them, as if making sure she's still with him and okay.

But they're engulfed in a storm of activity and medical mumbo jumbo before she can think of anything to say to him. Hayden follows the doctors, noticing Doctor Palmer among them, surrounding the Ancient One as they wheel her briskly along on a stretcher. They go through a doorway and into an operating room and everyone is too busy rushing around to make Hayden wait in a separate room. She stands out of the way, leaned against a wall as she watches the staff, including Stephen, scrub up.

Hayden notices Strange pick up a scalpel from a utensil tray and pause, staring down at his shaking hand. She bites her lip and almost goes to him, but Stephen getting the attention of another surgeon named Nick and handing him the scalpel keeps her in place. Despite the situation, Hayden can't help but feel the smallest bit proud of him.

But that feeling is quickly chased away by the long drone of the heart monitor, signaling the Ancient One's heart has stopped . Hayden presses a hand to her mouth, her heart dropping. As she stares at the monitor, she notices it flicker for just a moment and she looks over at Stephen, slowly lowering her hand.

Their gazes meet and a realization passes between them.

Hayden and Stephen leave their bodies at the same time, becoming Astral Projections.

She spots the Ancient One's ghostly form on the other side of the room and Hayden and Stephen quickly follow her.

"What are you doing?" Stephen calls after her as they pass through the operating room wall, drift down a hallway, and enter a small lounge area. "You're dying."

The Sorcerer Supreme doesn't respond as she slides through a large window and stops at a balcony overlooking the New York cityscape on the left and the bay on the right. Stephen stops on her left side and Hayden on her right. It's storming outside, but time has slowed so when there's a flash of lightning, Hayden can watch it spread gradually out in the sky like reaching fingers.

"You have to return to your body, now," Stephen says. "You don't have any time."

"Time is relative," the Ancient One says as she admires the view. "Your bodies haven't even hit the floor yet."

"Stephen's right," Hayden says, looking from the breathtaking view back to the Sorcerer Supreme. "You have to go back or you'll die."

The Ancient One still regards the slowly falling rain and spreading lightening. "I've spent so many years, peering through time, looking at this exact moment. I've prevented countless terrible futures, but after each one, there's always another. And they all lead here, never further."

The implication of her words isn't lost on Hayden and it causes a pang of despair to go through her.

Stephen looks over at the Sorcerer Supreme. "You think this is where you die."

The Ancient One remains as calm as ever. "Do you wonder what I see in your futures?"

Hayden exchanges a look with Stephen around the Sorcerer Supreme. Of course she's wondered about her future, who hasn't? She just never expected the Ancient One to have looked at Hayden's, of all people's, future.

"No," Stephen says, but, when the Ancient One turns and looks at him, presumably with a knowing smile, he bows his head. "Yes."

"I never saw your futures," the Sorcerer Supreme says. "Only their possibilities. You both have such capacities for goodness." Finally, she looks over at Hayden. "You have lived the majority of your life afraid of who you are and the power you possess, believing that you must hide your true self to protect those around you."

"I do have to hide it," Hayden says, briefly breaking eye contact with the Ancient One and hunching her shoulders.

"That fear is keeping you from truly _realizing_." The Sorcerer Supreme fixes the other woman with a concentrated look.

Hayden swallows hard. "Realizing what?"

"Your _past_ is not who you are." The Ancient One's voice is gentle and quiet.

Hayden looks away from her, head bowing. How she wishes that could be true, but how can someone's past not shape who a person is? Hayden's past is the only reason she hasn't hurt anyone since.

But, a seed of doubt planted by her time at Kamar-Taj and, unknowingly, Stephen Strange inside Hayden's heart makes itself known for the first time. Hayden's learned to control the basics of the Mystic Arts, a power lying dormant within her, much like her mutant genes. How different can the two truly be?

The Ancient One gives Hayden a genuine smile, a smile that clearly reaches her warm brown eyes. Hayden can't help but feel just a little better and returns the smile with a small one of her own.

The Sorcerer Supreme turns back to Stephen. "You've always excelled in all your endeavors, but not because you crave success, but because of your fear of failure."

"It's what made me a great doctor," Stephen says as he crosses his arms.

"It's precisely what kept you from greatness. Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson." The Ancient One fixes Stephen with the same look she did Hayden a few moments before.

Stephen looks the Sorcerer Supreme right in the eyes. "And that is?"

"It's not about _you_ ," she says her tone of voice just as quiet as when she spoke to Hayden, if not a little more insistent.

Hayden sees Stephen's face fall just the slightest bit, as if realizing the meaning behind such a simple phrase for the first time. Then Stephen looks at Hayden, if only for a few seconds, before looking away.

"When you first came to me, you asked me how I was able to heal Jonathan Pangborn," the Ancient One says, tone returning to her normal calm and cool way of speaking. "I didn't. He channels dimensional energy and uses magic to walk, constantly."

Hayden discreetly peaks at Stephen around the Sorcerer Supreme again. He's looking back out over the bay, the creeping lightening illuminating his face and casting his eyes in an unusual and otherworldly light.

He takes her breath away.

She quickly looks away from him and instead pretends to take in the slowly falling drops of rain.

Hayden doesn't see that Stephen casts his gaze on her and lets it linger for a few moments. "So, I could have my hands back again? My old life?"

The thought causes Hayden to look down, eyebrows furrowing. She realizes she would miss him dearly if he disappeared from her life and, selfishly, she doesn't want him to go.

"You could," says the Ancient One. "And the world would be none the lesser for it…. I've hated drawing power from the Dark Dimension, but, as you well know, sometimes one must break the rules."

Hayden can't help but crack a smile at this and glance at the Ancient One. "I doubt Mordo will see it that way."

"Mordo's soul is rigid and unmovable, forged by the fires of his youth." The Sorcerer Supreme looks between Hayden and Stephen. "He needs your flexibility, just as you both need his strength, as well as each other. Only together do you stand a chance of defeating Dormammu."

Hayden shakes her head. "But I'm not ready and neither is Stephen." The look she catches from him tells her he agrees with her.

"No one ever is," says the Ancient One as she gives them both encouraging, yet simultaneously sad smiles. "We don't get to choose our time. Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered, your time short." The Sorcerer Supreme pauses, gazing out over the beautiful scenery. "You'd think, after all this time I'd be ready. But look at me, stretching one moment out into a thousand, just so I can watch the snow."

Hayden feels the Ancient One take her hand and squeeze.

And between one blink and the next, she's gone.


	7. Seven: I Promise

**Author's Note** : Hi again! Here's your new chapter, as promised! It's a little short, as I felt I had to dedicate the last bit to it's own chapter. Enjoy!

Mundie

Hayden slowly turns her head, already knowing in her heart what's happened. The Ancient One's astral projection is no longer where it once was. Only a gap between her and Stephen remains. She stares numbly at the empty space, nothing but pregnant silence filling the air. After several moments, Hayden's eyes drift up and meet Stephen's.

His eyebrows have furrowed and Hayden can see the concern in the downward curve of his mouth. He approaches her carefully, filling the space the Sorcerer Supreme occupied mere moments before.

"We- we should get back to our bodies." Stephen hesitantly reaches out and gently grips her shoulder. Was his hand shaking more than usual? "Come on."

She allows him to wrap his arm around her shoulders and guide her off the balcony. They pass back through the way they came and arrive again in the operating room. With her eyes glued to the floor, Hayden moves away from Stephen and returns to her body.

Hayden jerks back into the physical plane and stumbles, her back striking the wall behind her with a painful thump. The impact sends a shock straight to her chest and she bends over slightly, hand pressed to the source of the pain. Hayden wobbles into the adjacent room, barely registering the sinks lining one wall on her right or Stephen's cloak floating silently in a corner of the room. She leans against the surface behind her, which is cool against her wings, eyes squeezed shut as she waits for the pain in her chest to fade. It takes several moments for the throbbing to fade and for her to be able to breathe properly again.

Hayden lets her head fall back against the wall, breathing out a slow exhale; the familiar pain of loss begins to well up inside her.

The door leading to the operating room swinging open causes Hayden to immediately straighten and for her wings to clench against her back spasmodically.

Stephen sees her as soon the door opened. "Hayden, are-" His face falls as he approaches her, his jaw tightening.

Christine Palmer pauses in the doorway, before she gives a little knowing smile. With a small shake of her head, she turns back into the operating room and shuts the door silently behind her.

Hayden wonders what about her caused the change in his demeanor. Stephen halting before her and softly brushing something wet from her cheekbone answers her internal question. She hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

"Oh, crap, I'm sorry." Hayden turns her face away swiping at the stupid tears. "I-" The realization that the Ancient One is well and truly gone washes over her, choking her.

Hayden closes the distance between her and Stephen, wrapping her arms around him and allowing the walls to fall away.

He returns her embrace, holding her tightly and supporting her. "Shh, it's alright. Everything's okay."

Everything is far from okay, but she lets herself pretend it is, if only for a little while. They stay like that until Hayden stops shaking and the tears cease to fall.

Finally, she slowly pulls a little way away from him, sniffling and wiping at her face. "I'm sorry. That must have been awkward."

"Hey-" Stephen gently cups her face, his hands warm and touch tender. "-look at me."

She does and almost instantly feels better. There's such a warm, yet simultaneously sad look in his eyes. She feels that instantly recognizable fluttering in her stomach, but she wishes he didn't look so sad. Her hands rise up and cover the backs of his lightly shaking fingers.

"She meant a lot to you," he says one of his thumbs running gently over her cheek. "There's nothing to apologize for."  
"She meant a lot to you too," Hayden says as she leans a little into his touch. She squeezes her eyes shut and pauses. "Everyone I've ever cared about has either died, or left me." She opens her eyes again and meets Stephen's gaze with her own. "Everyone except for you."

Stephen exhales slowly through slightly parted lips. "I will never leave you."

The magnetism Hayden felt between them back in the Sanctum returns, this time much stronger and more demanding.

"Do you promise?" She allows that draw to pull her closer to him, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Stephen gently tilts her head back a little. "I promise."

That soft and warm look is back in his eyes, sending the butterflies in Hayden's stomach into overdrive. He leans down and she shifts forward to meet him. She feels his pleasantly warm breath fan over her face; Hayden's eyes flutter shut.

And in the next moment, he's kissing her.

The world around Hayden falls away and all she can feel, taste, smell is Stephen Strange. His lips are soft against hers and he kisses her like he's waited to his whole life. One of Hayden's hands goes to the back of his neck, her fingers sliding into his dark hair; the other pressing a little over his. The feeling in her chest Hayden has come to recognize as love wells up inside her and she let's it wash over her without resistance.

But all too soon, Stephen breaks the kiss. He leans his forehead against hers and neither one of them move for several long moments, their breaths intermingling between them. Hayden runs her thumb over Stephen's knuckles, allowing herself to bask in his nearness.

After another moment of this, they finally break away from each other.

Hayden's gaze immediately rises to Stephen's face and her own falls thanks to what she sees. "Stephen, why are you crying?" Anxiety immediately replaces the warm feelings in her chest. "I- I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, no," he says as he takes her hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze, one tear making its way down his face. "It's nothing like that." His cloak comes out of it's corner and winds itself around his shoulders, settling snugly.

"Okay, good." Hayden, distinctly relieved, reaches up and pops the cloak's collar. "Then what's wrong? Are you alright?" She runs her hands across his shoulders, smoothing any wrinkles from the fabric.

"Yes, I've just-," A soft note enters his voice and his eyes, slightly red and watery from tears, drift over her face, before meeting hers. "-realized something."

The cloak then decides this is exactly the right moment to wipe gingerly at the tears on Stephen's face with the edges of the newly popped collar.

" _Stop_." Stephen looks sternly at the cloak and the collar settles back down.

Hayden finds herself laughing, probably a lot harder than she should be, at the cloak's behavior. Soon, Stephen begins to chuckle as well.

And in that small ridiculous moment, everything was alright.


	8. Eight: The Final Bargain

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! So, I'm just gonna apologize right away for the delay in updates. There's been some stuff going on in my life. I'm gonna upload the remaining chapters to An Open Doorway today and go on temporary hiatus. I'm just going to take time to get caught up on my in progresses.  
Anyway, thanks so much for sticking with me this long and enjoy!

Hayden and Stephen step through the whirling and sparking sling ring portal and pause. Her face tightens as she looks around the room, barely registering the portal closing behind her. They've arrived back in the circular room containing the massive globe and Sanctum doors in Kamar-Taj, but it is in shambles.

Whole chunks of solid stone litter the area and the pedestal in the middle of the room is barely staying up by a thread. Cracks wind their way through the Sanctum doors, bisecting the looping symbols set into each stone surface.

A swell of anger rises like a wave inside Hayden and her hands clench at her sides. She vaguely registers the warmth coiling at their surface, but can't bring herself to care. Kaecilius is the one responsible for this. He destroyed an important part of Kamar-Taj, the place Hayden has come to call home. If he thinks he's just going to walk away from threatening everything she cares about unscathed, then he is dead. Wrong.

Stephen reaches out across the small distance separating them, unwinding her clenched hand and squeezing her fingers. The anger and warmth immediately cool, leaving determination behind and Hayden can't help the memory of what transpired between her and Stephen rising to the forefront of her mind.

She looks over at him as she squeezes back and shoots him a small smile. His eyes soften and he returns her smile with one of his own. Silent communication passes between them and with decisive nods, they turn back to the destruction before them, ready to take on whatever's going to be thrown at them next.

That's when Hayden notices Mordo standing near the broken pedestal, his back facing them. His shoulders are tense as he silently surveys the damage around him.

"She's dead," Stephen says as he, releasing her hand, steps further into the room with Hayden remaining close to his side.

"You were right, " Mordo says, his voice quiet. "She wasn't who I thought she was."

Stephen takes a few more steps forward. "She was complicated."

Mordo turns around, his face tight with too many emotions for Hayden to read. "Complicated? The Dark Dimension is volatile, dangerous. What if it overtook her?"

Hayden moves toward him, clenching her jaw in an effort to keep her emotions under control. "But it didn't, Mordo. She never would have let that happen."

"She did what she thought was right," Stephen says, watching closely as Mordo begins to pace.

Mordo stops pacing and faces them. "The bill comes due. Don't you see? Her transgressions led the zealots to Dormammu, Kaecilius is her _fault_. And here we are in the consequence of her deception, a world on fire."

"That's _bullshit_ and you know it!" Hayden steps toe to toe with Mordo and jabs him in the chest with her finger. "There's no one to blame for this, so _stop_ whining and pull your head out of your ass! They're going for Hong Kong next and Stephen and I can't defeat them on our own!"

Stephen places a hand on her shoulder, gently pressing her out of Mordo's face. "You told me once to fight as if my life depended on it, because one day, it might. Well, today is that day."

Mordo looks between the two of them, before his mouth sets firmly and he gives a small but decisive nod. Hayden lets out an inaudible sigh of relief, silently thanking Stephen convincing Mordo without much of a fight. Hayden's jaw sets with determination as Stephen opens a portal and they step through into Hong Kong.

The scene laid before them is one of utter destruction.

Huge chunks of rubble from the surrounding buildings litter the street. Cars, crushed and smouldering, lay beneath the stone and nearby structures burn. The smell of dust and decay and something altogether unholy permeates the air. Hayden looks up from the immediate destruction, her eyes widening.

Masses like huge cancer cells, dark purple and black, ooze from the sky and spread slowly, disintegrating anything they come in contact with.

When Hayden looks away from the horrible sight, she sees Kaecilius and his zealots heading down the street toward them. "Stephen."

"I see them," he says, voice tight as he briefly takes her hand and squeezes.

"The Sanctum's already fallen," Mordo says, eyes ripping away from the wrongness in the sky and alighting on Kaecilius. "Dormammu is coming and nothing can stop him."

Hayden's hands clench at her sides and she grinds her teeth, watching Kaecilius approach. Everything that's happened up until this point has been for nothing.

The Ancient One died for nothing.

But that won't stop them from going down without a fight.

Hayden forms her shields, the glow illuminating her determined face in an otherworldly light.

"Not necessarily." Stephen says as if he's just realized something.

That's when the zealots break into a run, forming glass weapons as they go. Hayden widens her stance, preparing herself for a fight there's no way they can win. She sees a flash of green light in the corner of her eye just as Kaecilius leaps at Stephen. With shields raised, she jumps between them and-

\- Hayden widens her stance, preparing herself for a fight there's no way they can-

She blinks rapidly and looks around, realizing everything is going _backwards._ Chunks of rubble on the ground zips back up and refills the holes they came from. People once laying on the ground get back up and run in reverse. Street signs realign and chunks of metal rise back up to their original positions. 

Hayden looks quickly at Stephen, immediately noticing the green runes circling his arm and the glowing Eye around his neck.

She watches as Stephen whips around and lets Mordo in on the spell . "Stephen, you-"

"Yes," he says hands falling to his sides. "The spell's working. We've got a second chance." With that he takes off running.

Hayden immediately begins to follow and they run past Kaecilius and his zealots. However, she doesn't make it much farther before an arm loops around her waist and throws her roughly to the ground. She cries out when a boot plants firmly on her diaphragm, pressing her into the ground and crushing her wings. Hayden glares up at Kaecilius through the throbbing pain radiating from her chest.

His lip curls a little as he looks down his nose at her. "You have been nothing but a nuisance. I should not have waited this long."

Hayden opens her mouth with a retort on the tip of her tongue, but Kaecilius bends down over her and hovers a hand over her sternum, silencing her. A sickly yellow light emits from his hand and as soon as the light touches her skin, Hayden can't breathe. She chokes on a soundless scream, agony like nothing she's felt before coursing through her. Hayden's head falls back against the pavement and her whole body tenses as she spirals uncontrollably down into the pain.

And after what feels like an eternity, the agony finally ceases.

Her eyes flutter open and she watches through blurred vision as a murky Kaecilius straightens, a small glowing orange orb in his hand.

"Try to get in my way now," he says, but his voice sounds distorted, like he's speaking to her through a layer of glass.

The orange orb fades away and Kaecilius steps off her chest, disappearing from her line of sight. She lays there stunned and blinking rapidly for several moments, willing her vision and mind to clear. Just as she's working up the strength to at least sit up, dizziness and less fuzzy vision be damned, Stephen appears in her line of vision. She sees him drop to his knees beside her, feels him take her shoulder and squeeze. His lips move, but she only catches fragments of his voice. Hayden grinds her teeth and, blinking rapidly, manages to force herself into a sitting position.

"-ay…. den… _Hayden_."

And just like that the world stops spinning, the fuzziness fades from her vision and sound returns to the world. A cacophony of screeching metal and human cries assaults her ears.

"I'm- I'm alright," she says as she grabs his shoulder and uses it to help her stand. "Where's Kaecilius?"  
Stephen shoots to his feet and steadies her when she stumbles. "Mordo's keeping him busy for now." He look over his shoulder and back to Hayden. "Can you fight?"

She takes a step back from him, standing on her own. She bends her knees a few times, thankful for her legs' steadiness. "Yeah." She gives him a small smile. "Let's kick some zealot ass."

Then, she summons her shields for maximum dramatic effect.

But nothing happens.

Hayden's face falls and she tries again, and again; Nothing. She remembers what Kaecilius did to her. She remembers that odd orange glowing orb. That's when what happened clicks into place in her mind.

"Stephen-." She looks up at him, his eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Then she notices the movement over his shoulder. " _Stephen_!"

He whips around just in time to stop a zealot from running him through. Kaecilius appears a split second later and Hayden leaps into action without thinking. She makes the motion to conjure a whip and remembers a split second too late. Kaecilius punches her with a well placed blow to the stomach, causing her to double over and the wind to rush out of her lungs. He kicks her feet out from under her and she lands roughly on her side, arms clutching her stomach. She rolls over onto her other side as Stephen launches the zealot a good distance away. Hayden struggles to get up, sucking in air like a beached fish.

Kaecilius engages Stephen and for a moment, the fight is even. But Kaecilius stuns Stephen long enough for him to wrap his hand around Strange's throat, glass weapon at the ready.

Time appears to slow around Hayden as despair wells up inside her. Without the Mystic Arts, she's less than useless in this fight. There's nothing she can do.

She looks up at the flames slowly receding on a nearby building, the oranges and reds of it illuminating the street below.

 _Flames_.

 _"Your_ past _is not who you are."_

 _"I promise."_

Hayden, with teeth bared, raises a shaking hand and allows the fire in her soul to burst forth.

The blast of flame hits its mark, sending Kaecilius sprawling halfway down the street.

She gets to her feet, small licks of fire spilling from the palms of her hands as she approaches Kaecilius, whose robes are burnt and skin stained black with smoke. He stands and watches her draw closer with something akin to shock in his eyes. Mordo stares at her not too far away from Kaecilius, shock clear in the wideness of his eyes and his gaping jaw.

"I'm _done_ being afraid." Hayden allows the emotional burst of fire to scorch the pavement. "I'm _done_ letting this control me." Another blast into the ground. She stops several feet from Kaecilius and raises her hands. "I'm _done_ letting you threaten everything I care about."

The flames build and build and build beneath her, rising to match the strength of her anger and grief and guilt. " _This is for Earth, you son of a bitch."_

And just as she's about to release the fiery embodiment of her anger and revenge on Kaecilius, the memory of speaking to Stephen in the library what felt like centuries ago rises to the forefront of her mind.

 _"I wanted to not be afraid of myself anymore_."

Hayden looks over her shoulder at Stephen, who is staring at her with such a profound expression, an expression of mixed awe and trepidation.

What would Hayden be if she goes through with this out of revenge, anger, and her need to satisfy a deep hurt Kaecilius isn't even responsible for?

 _"It's not about_ you _."_

Hayden's jaw clenches as she reels back the heat of the flame beneath her skin with tremendous effort. With a yell, she lobs a concentrated ball of fire at Kaecilius. When he deflects it with his sword, Hayden opens her wings and gives a powerful beat. She uses her momentum and kicks him in the chest. He hits the ground hard and rolls with the kinetic energy. Hayden lands and sprints toward the Sanctum, glancing back and spotting Stephen running not too far behind her. She sees Mordo running to her right and she can't help the small smile on her lips, despite everything. They have a chance, now they just have to take it.

Stephen catches up to her and falls in on her left and Mordo on her right.

But a billboard swooping down before them forces them to come to a clumsy halt. The huge sign is followed shortly by several large chunks of rock. She ducks as they soar over her head and movement to her right causes her to whip around, flame coiling just beneath the palm of her hand.

But it's only Wong, springing back from the dead.

Stephen immediately pulls him out of the rewind. "Wong!"

He looks between the three of them, then around himself, confusion, then realization dawning on his face.

"I know," Stephen says. "Breaking the laws of nature."

Wong steps up beside them. "Well don't stop now."

"Once the Sanctum is restored, they'll attack again." Mordo says, slightly breathless from all the fighting and running.

Hayden nods. "Then we'll defend it. Come on!"

Before they're about to take off at a run, the ground bucks beneath their feet and they all tumble to the ground, hard. Hayden lays winded for several moments before struggling to her hands and knees. Small droplets of blood ooze from her chest and drip to the ground. She winces and presses a hand to her chest as Mordo gets to his feet first, followed by Wong.

"Both of you, get up," he says as he falls into a defensive stance. "We will finish this."

Hayden crawls over to Stephen just as he manages to peel himself from the ground. She helps him kneel and immediately sees the green runes are no longer coiling around his lower arm.

They both look up at Kaecilius when he begins to speak. "You can't fight the inevitable." The zealot looks up at the sky, admiring the now frozen in time monstrous masses. "Isn't it beautiful. A world beyond time. Beyond death."

Stephen and Hayden's eyes lock as Stephen breaths out two little words. "Beyond time."

Her grip on him tightens. "No, you can't. You promised, Stephen. _You promised_."

He touches her face for a moment with a small sad smile. "I'm sorry."

Stephen stands to his feet, gently pries Hayden's fingers off his cloak and takes off into the night sky.

A single tear works its way down Hayden's face as she watches him disappear into the Dark Dimension.

"Stephen Strange has left to surrender his power." Kaecilius says, triumphant and smug.

Stephen navigates through the black and green and purple masses floating randomly around him. When he reaches his destination, he begins the loop with a curl of his fingers. Then, he touches down, facing the lord of the Dark Dimension.

"Dormammu, I've come to bargain."


	9. Post Credits

**One**

"I think he really should have stolen the whole book because the warnings… the warnings come after the spells."

Quiet laughter fills the brief silence that followed Stephen's statement. Hayden's eyes widen as she turns her head and stares at the culprit of the chuckling.

 _Wong is laughing_.

After several moments of continuous giggling, Wong wipes at his eye and lets out a breath. "Oh, that's funny."

A big smile spreads across Hayden's face. " _Pfft_."

She begins to laugh, breathlessly and hard and a moment later, Stephen is laughing as well. Hayden leans on her knees, taking several deep breaths between bursts of mirth. Everyone is bruised and dirty and exhausted from fighting, yet here they are, aside from Mordo, giggling like a bunch of idiots.

Hayden straightens up a little stiffly, her laughter subsiding. She looks up when a flash of orange catches her eye. There up in the air and floating down to her is the warm ball of light Kaecilius stole from her chest. She reaches out to it as it drifts closer to her and it passes right through her hands, leaving a warm and tingling feeling behind. She watches as it gets to her chest and sinks back inside. Hayden closes her eyes and presses a hand to where the light disappeared, that warm and tingling feeling coursing through her whole body for several moments before it too subsides.

She opens her eyes and finds her three companions staring at her with mixed expressions of confusion or relief, in Stephen's case.

"What was _that_?" Wong says as he studies her intently.

"The magic Kaecilius stole from me." Hayden shakes her head, a frown tugging on her lips.

"That's why you…." Stephen meets her gaze with his own, realization in his eyes.

Hayden only nods and looks down at her hands, allowing a small flame to burn in each of them before putting them out.

Wong places a hand on her shoulder. "I always knew there was more to you than meets the eye."

"Thanks, Wong." Hayden gives him a smile as his hand returns to his side, her mind turning back to Kaecilius. "The only question is why Kaecilius waited so long to do that."

Stephen reactivates the Eye with a few fluent flourishes. "He probably thought he wouldn't need to." He watches the Sanctum turn back to normal with his companions. Time marches forward once again. "We did it."

Mordo shake his head. "Yes," he says. "By also violating the laws of nature."

Hayden gestures with her hand. "Look around you, Mordo. It's over."

"You think there will be no consequences? No price to pay?" He takes several steps back from them. "We broke our rules, just like her. The bill comes due. _Always_." Hayden watches, tight lipped as Mordo spirals down into despair. "I will follow this path no longer."

With that, he turns and walks away from everything he has ever known.

 **Two**

Hayden pauses at the bottom of the stairs, admiring the silhouette Stephen cuts against the large Sanctum window. Every edge of him is so familiar to her, she could recognize him in any lighting, from any distance.

By the time she begins her ascent again, Stephen is already standing by the window. He's looking down at his hand and he slowly flexes his fingers.

Hayden steps up behind Stephen, placing one arm around his waist and covering the top of his hand with her own.

Their fingers lace together and everything is right again.

 _ **Doctor Strange and Hayden Jones will return**_


	10. Epilogue

**Author's Note** : Alright, this is it. The final chapter in An Open Doorway. Thank you guys so much for sticking with me all the way. But this isn't the end, only the first leg of Hayden's story. I'll see you all again soon.  
With loads of love,  
Mundie

 _ **Everything**_

A cool breeze drifts through Kamar-Taj and into the secluded garden, gently stirring Stephen's cloak and Hayden's feathers.

"Stephen, I promised I'd tell you everything when I was ready. I don't think I'll ever be truly ready, but no one ever is." Hayden gives a small sad smile as she slowly sinks down on a nearby bench. She pats the space beside her. He sits and Hayden takes a deep breath.

"It was the night after my parents had this huge fight. Their marriage had already been struggling and I think that fight was the last straw because my dad came home the next evening with divorce papers. My parents start screaming and yelling at each other and my dad goes to the bedroom and comes back with his bag already packed. They resume their fighting and I'm sitting on the living room couch the whole time. Then my dad asks me if I'm coming with him."

Hayden pauses, her face tight. Stephen takes her hand and runs his thumb across her knuckles. Hayden swallows heavily and continues her story.

"I felt sick to my stomach and just really wrong, so I ran to the bathroom, sure I was about to throw up. I locked the door behind me and that's when the pain in my back started. My memory's a little blurry from that point on, but I could never forget how excruciating it was. I remember clearly leaning on the sink and looking at myself in the mirror and just seeing my hair and eyes change color. I thought I was losing my mind. Then the pain kicked up about a million notches. I don't remember screaming, but I guess I was because my parents were pounding on the door at this point. I think that's about when the fire started."

Again, Hayden stops and squeezes her eyes shut, almost feeling the heat of the flames on her skin. Stephen squeezing her hand grounds her, brings her back to the present, and her eyes open again. She stares at their hands between them on the bench.

"I burned my house to the ground. The fire didn't hurt me- they pulled me out of the still burning debris but my parents- _my parents_ \- they never got out." She takes a shaky breath, tears brimming in her eyes. "I was taken to Xavier's for a while and the police never figured out what started the fire; they blamed it on wiring. I never told anyone outside Xavier's what I really was and I saved money at my job until I could afford to move out on my own. I was only eighteen when I mutated, I can't believe it's been eight years."

Stephen pulls her into a tight embrace and the emotions she's bottled up all these years finally spill free. She lets herself cry, really feel it, and clings to him, her rock in the storm. He makes small soothing noises and smooths his hand through her hair, the motion calming her. Hayden's tears slowly stop and an imagine rises up in her mind.

She pulls back, wiping the wetness and snot from her face with her sleeve, sniffling. "Just now, I couldn't help but think of an open doorway with light shining through." She reaches out and touches Stephen's face, running her thumb over his cheekbone. She gives him a watery smile. "That open doorway is you, Stephen. And I'm so glad I walked through it."

He places one trembling hand over Hayden's, leaning into the contact as his eyes, alight with warmth and softness, meet hers. "What happened that night is _not_ your fault. It was completely beyond your control and you have grown so much since then. You _don't_ have to be afraid anymore. Do you realize that?" He smiles when she nods her head and leans his forehead against hers. "But you can't possibly realize, Hayden Jones, just how much I've come to love you."

Hayden smiles as tears of a different sort trail down her face. "I love you too, Doctor Stephen Strange. I have for a long time, I was just too stubborn to realize it sooner."

Her eyes flutter shut as she lets herself become lost in the moment. He then leans in and Hayden realizes, like Stephen's hands, her past isn't perfect and that's okay.


End file.
